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N.H.L. Hits Back After Suit by Rangers

A lingering dispute between the N.H.L. and Madison Square Garden took a nasty turn Thursday, with the league asking a United States District Court judge to open the door for punishing the owner of the Rangers for filing a lawsuit against the league last fall.

The N.H.L.’s court filing included a letter from Commissioner Gary Bettman saying the league could pursue punishment ranging from a fine to suspension to a termination of the Rangers’ franchise. The Garden responded by calling the countersuit “bullying tactics.”

The case stems from an antitrust lawsuit the Garden filed in September, attempting to stop the N.H.L. from incorporating the Rangers’ Web site into a leaguewide collective controlled by NHL.com. The team has had mostly setbacks in its case, with a judge in the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals in March calling the team’s request for an injunction “without merit.”

The Garden has continued to pursue the case in court, however, and the N.H.L. filed the countersuit.

The league said in a statement that it was seeking “a declaration from the Court authorizing the Board of Governors to proceed with disciplinary proceedings against the ownership of the Rangers for material breaches of the team’s contractual commitments to the league and the other 29 Member Clubs, as well as for compensatory damages stemming from those breaches.”

The league said in its filing that in the case of a breach, a vote by three-quarters of the teams could issue fines, suspend or terminate membership in the league, order a sale of the club or suspend or expel members of team management.

League officials did not comment. It is likely they would seek at least to recoup legal costs in the case if they receive a favorable ruling from the judge, if not pursue more draconian measures.

Garden management responded by defending its right to sue the league.

“Every American citizen or business has a right to go to court and have its dispute heard by an impartial judge,” said a statement released by the Garden spokesman Barry Watkins. “The N.H.L. shouldn’t be afraid of the judicial system. We will pursue our case vigorously and will not be intimidated by the N.H.L.’s bullying tactics.”

The conflict began when N.H.L. owners voted, 25-3, to transfer the digital rights of all 30 teams to the league. It is a model used by most professional leagues. The Rangers were among the dissenters, arguing that they should be able to operate their Web site for their own benefit.

The Garden started the case with a bitter note when it filed suit Sept. 28, calling the N.H.L. an “illegal cartel” and calling the digital merger a “blatant expropriation of team assets” while arguing that the league was in violation of antitrust laws. It also said the N.H.L. had done a poor job of marketing the league.

A judge rejected a preliminary injunction to the Garden in November, and the appeals court released a summary judgment in March rejecting the injunction as well, saying that Madison Square Garden “did not show that the N.HL.’s Web site ban has had an actual adverse effect on competition in the relevant market.”

That sent the case back to trial court. No trial date has been set.

The Rangers are following the precedent of the Dallas Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, who filed an antitrust lawsuit against the N.F.L. in 1996, alleging the league encroached on his rights. The case was settled a year later, with no ruling by a court.

A version of this article appears in print on , on page D5 of the New York edition with the headline: N.H.L. Hits Back After Suit By Rangers. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe